We see many patients with back pain in our Downtown St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Holland has been able to help a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great results.
In a study published by the journal Spine experts1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute soreness and restricted function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic care as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.
The authors discovered that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical treatment only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two-and four-week marks.
Accordingly, combining these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.
Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at UCLA2 that was published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than patients undergoing medical treatment.
According to the researchers, the main aspects that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.
Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.
In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting results.
You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Downtown St. Louis, MO clinic a call today at (314) 588-9100. We'll do our best to help you get and stay free from back pain.
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We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
